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THE TIP OF THE MITT AMERICAN VITICULTURAL AREA

Established in 2016, the newest of five Michigan AVAs is located in the Northern “Tip” of the Lower Peninsula. The AVA offers ideal growing conditions for cold tolerant and cold hardy grapes, offering important branding and marketing opportunities at a time when wine-related tourism in Northern Michigan is on the rise.

WHAT IT IS

    The Tip of the Mitt American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a federally-recognized grape growing region. The AVA covers approximately 2,760 square miles including the entirety of Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Emmet, and Presque Isle counties, as well as northern portions of Antrim and Alpena counties. SAGGA filed for the AVA on behalf of its growers and The Tip of the Mitt AVA became the fifth AVA in Michigan in 2016.


The AVA is surrounded on three sides by water - the shorelines of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan and the Straits of Mackinac.

These large bodies of water, along with the prevailing westerly winds, moderate the climate, giving grapes enough time to fully ripen during a fairly short growing season. The Tip of the Mitt glacial soils distinguish the area from the land to the south, allowing the soils to stay cool enough to delay budburst until after damaging spring frost.


Cold tolerant vinifera grape varieties and unique cold hardy hybrid varieties are grown throughout the AVA and make possible a distinctive wine experience.


WHAT IT DOES

The AVA designation provides vintners the ability to more accurately identify the origin of their wines for consumers. While this may sound simplistic, it affords a few other key benefits.

  1. It allows vineyards working within the Tip of the Mitt AVA to work collaboratively through SAGGA with a goal of producing high-quality wine grapes and, ultimately, the AVA gaining recognition as a premier source of cold-hardy wine grapes.

  2. With this recognition, vineyards can expect higher demand for AVA-grown grapes and ultimately, higher prices for their crops.

  3. It allows wineries inside the AVA to place the Tip of the Mitt designation on their bottles with at least 85% of the grapes being sourced from within the AVA; again, with the goal of building a brand around the unique Tip of the Mitt identifier that will help drive demand.

  4. It allows wineries to label wines that are produced from their own grapes within the AVA to place the estate bottled or estate grown designation on their bottles.


MEMBER WINERIES WITH ‘TIP OF THE MITT’ WINES

PROMOTING VITICULTURE THROUGHOUT NORTHERN MICHIGAN.

Straits Area Grape Growers Association is a 501(c)(5) non-profit organization supporting grape growers and vineyard owners throughout the Northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Tom Jaenicke - Executive Director

810 252-7855 

tgjaenicke@aol.com

STRAITS AREA GRAPE GROWERS ASSOCIATION

Is a 501(c)(5) non-profit organization supporting grape growers and vineyard owners throughout the Northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 


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